Young adults enjoy living in Coventry more than almost any other city in the country, a poll out today suggests.

Coventry is rated much better than London and Birmingham - and is second only to Cardiff in the best city to be young survey.

The survey looked at cities offering the best quality of life for 18-to-30-year-olds.

Factors such as cost of living, crime levels, pay and employment were taken into account.

London has ranked only 15th in the table.

Cardiff is the best city to be young because of a number of factors including the cost of living and employment opportunities, according to the research conducted by investment and insurance company Legal & General.

While London offered the highest average wages, it scored poorly on cost of living, rental rates and levels of crime, the poll found.

Sheffield and Wakefield shared last place on the table because of low average wages and young adults in the cities saying they were unhappy with their work-life balance, a spokeswoman said.

The poll of 2,100 18 to 30 year olds from across the UK also found that Edinburgh, which came in fifth place overall, was rated as the UK’s culture and entertainment capital.

Seven in ten of the young adults from Cardiff said they love their job and workers take home an average wage of £21,585 a year - slightly above the national average, the researchers said.

And 70 per cent of those polled said they were happy with their work-life balance compared with just 58% of those in Wakefield.

Dr Esmee Hanna, an expert in demographics who was commissioned to write the report by Legal & General’s insurance arm, said: “We asked 18 to 30s directly what they feel has the most significant impact on their quality of life.

"Job satisfaction and cost of living proved to be the factors they feel are most crucial to their quality of life, with work-life balance also proving important.

“Cardiff tops the ranking of overall quality of life for 18-30 year olds and the city appears to have a lot to offer young adults, such as good job opportunities, decent wages and the ability to put money aside each month - all factors that 18 to 30-year-olds deem important to their lifestyle.”

Here is the list of the UK’s best cities for young adults according to Legal & General’s Best City to be Young report